


cold beds and dim cheeks

by Rayne



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:40:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayne/pseuds/Rayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave dies again. What a shock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cold beds and dim cheeks

The bed was cold. The bed was cold, but there was a weight beside her.

The bed was cold, and Dave Strider had not yet risen.

That in itself was odd, honestly. For one thing, Rose was never the first up; she valued the bit of sleep her mind allowed her far too much. And Dave was warmth. If nothing else, he had always been a source of comfort, someone warm and strong to lose herself in, bury her face in his chest and allow herself to be vulnerable for what must have been the first time in her life. Even when nothing was right, she had Dave, and that was enough for her to make it through. So long as his arms were around her, supportive and so surprisingly full of love, she was going to be all right.

Now that she was beginning to wake up, it was becoming painfully obvious that the arms around her were just a bit too loose.

Rose pushed herself up, worry only growing as she felt Dave’s arms slide limply down. That wasn’t right at all. Even in his sleep, he always seemed so reluctant to let go of her. She moved, a hand brushing the hair from his eyes, and fuck, he was so cold. Her eyes ran over his face, heart sinking, because pale as he was, it had never been like that. The few freckles smattered across his cheeks seemed almost dimmed, as if they were fading, but it must have been her mind playing tricks on her.

Was he sick..? Neither of them got sick very often, but it was a possibility, wasn’t it? With age came illness; it was only natural. She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, as if she hadn’t felt it right the first time, feeling her heart rate quicken as she realized just how cold he was. She gave him a gentle shake, nudging his shoulder as she whispered to him softly.

“Dave…?”

Again and again her lips framed his name, until it didn’t even sound like a real word anymore, each time increasing in volume. Within minutes, she was all but shouting, voice shrill as she shook him, becoming frantic.

“Dave…! Dave!! Dave, stop it, this isn’t funny!!”

It must have been a joke. He had always been playing with her like that when they were younger, and it hadn’t stopped with age, though it had certainly grown less frequent. He couldn’t have been doing anything else. Dave had to have been messing with her. The other option was unthinkable.

Her cheeks were wet with tears when she finally let go of him, a hand going to press against his chest, breath catching in her throat when it was met with nothing. No firm, steady beat, the rhythm she had become so accustomed to in the past years, assuring her that she had by her side. No light pulse, all but tickling against her hand, making her beam in a way she had never imagined she could, because she had never imagined herself allowing someone to be close enough to make her. Nothing.

The tears were coming faster now, so many that she couldn’t even see, and in the back of her mind, she registered an awful screeching sound. Was that her…? It must have been.   
There was no one else around to make such a sound. The thought only made her sob harder, a scream ripping from her throat as she held onto him, as if it would bring him back. No, no, he couldn’t be gone…! This was Dave, the Dave Strider who had made it through everything! They had been through hell and back with each other, and fuck. Fuck, he couldn’t be gone. She buried her face into his shoulder, though it didn’t do much to muffle her wails, loud as she was. She found herself waiting for his arms to reach up, to embrace her as they had so many times before, to hold her through the pain until she was smiling again.

The fact that they didn’t only drove it home.

Dave was gone, and if he wasn’t fixing things now, there was no way he was coming back. If he wasn’t stroking her hair, whispering into her ear that they were going to be okay, that they were too strong for this, then… then he was never going to come back, was he?

Wherever he was, she hoped he would wait for her. The thought bounced around her head, silly as it was, somehow a constant as she cried and cried, clinging onto him the best she could. It didn’t fade, even as she drifted off to sleep, cheeks still wet for tears.

Either way, it wasn’t long before Rose found out the answer. She only managed a day without him.


End file.
